1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to machines utilized to resize the diameters of used shell casings and, more particularly, is directed towards a bench mountable and hand operable press utilized for resizing the brass body and rim on shotgun and small arms ammunition prior to reloading.
2. Description of The Prior Art
The state-of-the-art of shell casing resizing machines is fully set forth in my own prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,995. In my patent, I teach a vastly improved shell casing resizer which features substantially simultaneous resizing and ejection of a pair of shotgun shells mounted on a pair of oppositely disposed resizing dies. My prior machine may be bench mounted and includes a lever-actuated ram such that, while one shell casing is being pressed within one of the dies, another shell casing, already resized, is being ejected from the opposite die. The resizing and ejection actions occur substantially simultaneously during the downward stroke of the lever.
The machine as set forth in my prior patent also features automatic indexing which operates to alternately rotate each resizing die to its resizing/ejection position in response to the upward stroke of the hand-operated lever. The automatic indexing is achieved, more particularly, by means of a spring-loaded cam actuated alignment arm.
While a great improvement over prior art shell casing resizers, the device set forth in my earilier U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,995 is a bit complex, has many moving parts, and is therefore somewhat costly to manufacture.
Most of the complexities in my previous design centers around the automatic indexing mechanism which serves to rotate the resizing dies 180.degree. upon each upward stroke of the hand-operated lever. While automating the operation, and therefore speeding up the shell-handling capabilities of the machine, overall I feel that the automatic indexing mechanism could be dispensed with in a more basic, simplified and less complex model which could be manufactured and marketed at a price substantially below the original.